The Road to Maromizaha

After two nights and a full day in Madagascar's capital, it was time to move on and see some of the country's natural side. Upon leaving Antananarivo, we were soon surrounded on all sides by rice paddies, and in these rice paddies there were often various herons, Malagasy cattle (which are known as "zebu"), and the rice farmers themselves.

Traveling along the country's main road also revealed the sheer extent of deforestation in Madagascar. Less than 10% of Madagascar's original forest remains, and for almost the entirety of our three-hour drive, there wasn't a single native tree or animal in sight. Instead of lush jungles covering the hillsides, it was dried grass, exhausted topsoil, and forests of pine and eucalyptus. Yeah, pines are kind of cool and so are eucalyptus trees, but both are nonnative here, and there isn't a single Malagasy bird, mammal, or insect that benefits from their existence. Basically, the only reason they are even grown on the island is because they are cheap, easy to grow, and make good charcoal.

But in any case, we did have one exciting stop that broke up our otherwise monotonous bus ride. We visited a small zoo where we not only got to see a large number of endemic Malagasy reptiles but also got to hold and interact with them. I must say, I felt amazingly privileged to have a leaf-tailed gecko in my hands, a green tree boa around my neck, and a tiny Brookesia chameleon on my finger at various points during this visit. We even got to enter a large enclosure with several Parson's Chameleons (the largest known species of chameleon) and hand-feed them live insects! And in addition to geckos, chameleons, snakes, and crocodiles, the zoo also had friendly puppy and a family of adorable Tenrecs (a Malagasy mammal that bears some resemblance to a hedgehog).